Bean to Cup Coffee Machines

[S6PNJ]

I’m looking for a Bean to Cup coffee machine but am slightly at a loss as to which one might be considered the ‘best’ within my price range of up to £500. I’ve read lots (some on here), seen some in action and have been to various manufacturers website. I also heard that there was a ‘Which’ magazine report on B2C coffee machines but can’t find the article (not in the index and I’ve looked back over the last 18 or so editions).

If anyone has any advice, has any of these machines, or knows of a good review (or bad review), I’d be grateful to hear.

There’s also no point in saying ‘go to a shop and try them’, as the beans they use might not be fresh, certainly won’t be the brand I’m using, and I’ve read that it takes a good 6-10 cups to get the taste just right.

I’m considering the following machines:
Gaggia Titanium ~ £500
Krupps EA8080 ~ £430
DeLonghi ESAM4200S ~ £330
DeLonghi ESAM5400 ~ £400

[navier_stokes]

Not a user (or fan really!) of bean to cup machines, but these two places should give you all you need to know:

http://coffeegeek.com/

with reviews:

http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/consumer?SeeAll=1

and

http://www.home-barista.com/

Edited to add; from what I've read and used of bean to cup, Jura are really king of this - I would add them to your shortlist, although they're generally on the more expensive end.

Edited by navier_stokes on Tuesday 1st September 16:26

[juice]

I've got one of these...

http://www.gocoffee.co.uk/coffee-machines/delonghi...

Brilliant, only thing you have to do is remember to keep the beans and water topped up and empty the waste bin when the light flashes !

I wasn't worried about having a digital display (as electronics get attacked by humidity here) - has 2 dials - one for strength and one for volume. Has 3 buttons - single, double cup or just hot water. And has a steamer on the side if you want to froth milk.

Definitely recommended.

Edited by juice on Tuesday 1st September 18:13

[Bonefish Blues]

navier_stokes said:

Not a user (or fan really!) of bean to cup machines, but these two places should give you all you need to know:

http://coffeegeek.com/

with reviews:

http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/consumer?SeeAll=1

and

http://www.home-barista.com/

Edited to add; from what I've read and used of bean to cup, Jura are really king of this - I would add them to your shortlist, although they're generally on the more expensive end.

Edited by navier_stokes on Tuesday 1st September 16:26

Agree re Jura, and it's worth knowing that they used to produce Siemens machines for them - I say used to as I'm not sure if they still make the current range.

If they do, they will be marked as Made in Switzerland, and be a relative bargain.

[E31Shrew]

Have had a Gaggia Synchrony in the shop for the last 10 years and besides one trip back to them for a new pump [ under warranty] its been perfect. We use Illy beans. Point to note is the hardness of the water wherever you live. Also have the Titanium at home purchased 3 years ago and its performed faultlessly since new. Bit of a pain refilling the water reservoir but otherwise fine.

[FastLaneGirl]

I have a Jura, been in daily use for over a year now and it makes fantastic coffee (Impressa F50). Before that I had a Gaggia Titanium Plus which was very pretty but less functional and broke within a week. Was later told this was a common fault and given a full refund, so traded up to the Jura. Easy to use, easy to clean, stylish & makes excellent coffee, so I'm happy

[Zod]

I have a Gaggia Titanium and have had no problems. If you buy one, you have to also buy the milk island for perfect cappuccinos.

I've used Jura machines before and never been impressed by the coffee. The prices are from another world.

[Simpo Two]

These may be fine for making two tiddly cups of espresso, but what do you do when you want to make four proper (mug) size coffees?

I tried a Gaggia Something (ETA Paros) which I thought was 'B2C' but when it arrived I found that you had to grind the beans on one side, then take them out and plug them into another bit, and it was OK for a while, if you only wanted one decent coffee or two tiddly ones, then after a month or two of vey light duty it clogged up and I sold it on eBay. Not overly impressed.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 2nd September 15:44

[navier_stokes]

Simpo Two said:

These may be fine for making two tiddly cups of espresso, but what do you do when you want to make four proper (mug) size coffees?

I tried a Gaggia Something (ETA Paros) which I thought was 'B2C' but when it arrived I found that you had to grind the beans on one side, then take them out and plug them into another bit, and it was OK for a while, if you only wanted one decent coffee or two tiddly ones, then after a month or two of vey light duty it clogged up and I sold it on eBay. Not overly impressed.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 2nd September 15:44

If you want to make mug sized cups, don't buy an espresso machine.

Look into a decent grinder instead and use a caffitiere, or my new found favourite, which produces absolutely outstanding "proper mug" coffee, the chemex:

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/search.php?search_query=...

[E31Shrew]

Simpo Two said:

These may be fine for making two tiddly cups of espresso, but what do you do when you want to make four proper (mug) size coffees?

I tried a Gaggia Something (ETA Paros) which I thought was 'B2C' but when it arrived I found that you had to grind the beans on one side, then take them out and plug them into another bit, and it was OK for a while, if you only wanted one decent coffee or two tiddly ones, then after a month or two of vey light duty it clogged up and I sold it on eBay. Not overly impressed.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 2nd September 15:44

The Synchrony and Titanium make full size cups also

[juice]

As does the Delonghi I have

[S6PNJ]

juice said:

I've got one of these...

http://www.gocoffee.co.uk/coffee-machines/delonghi...

Definitely recommended.

That's the machine that made me look elsewhere othr than the Gaggia range. If I can get a DeLonghi for £300, then what makes the Gaggia Titanium £200 better? Unless I have a good reason, I won't spend the extra £200 on the machine, I'll spend it on the beans!

[Bonefish Blues]

S6PNJ said:

juice said:

I've got one of these...

http://www.gocoffee.co.uk/coffee-machines/delonghi...

Definitely recommended.

That's the machine that made me look elsewhere othr than the Gaggia range. If I can get a DeLonghi for £300, then what makes the Gaggia Titanium £200 better? Unless I have a good reason, I won't spend the extra £200 on the machine, I'll spend it on the beans!

Don't know, but as previously mentioned, I'd recommend checking out the Siemens model at £389 on that page.

Mine's been faultless and makes excellent coffee

[juice]

S6PNJ said:

juice said:

I've got one of these...

http://www.gocoffee.co.uk/coffee-machines/delonghi...

Definitely recommended.

That's the machine that made me look elsewhere othr than the Gaggia range. If I can get a DeLonghi for £300, then what makes the Gaggia Titanium £200 better? Unless I have a good reason, I won't spend the extra £200 on the machine, I'll spend it on the beans!

No idea...As I mentioned - the one I have maybe doesn't have the functions or LCD of the other models - but that was fine for me. All I wanted from it was: press button, receive coffee and do the odd Cappuccino for dinner parties. Think of it as a Volvo of coffee makers....Not that exciting to look at, but does what it does very well and with minimal fuss..

[Simpo Two]

navier_stokes said:

Look into a decent grinder instead and use a caffitiere, or my new found favourite, which produces absolutely outstanding "proper mug" coffee, the chemex:

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/search.php?search_query=...

Many thanks for that (apologies to OP for sidetracking thread)

Problem with cafetiere/filter type is that by the time the hot coffee has dropped into a cold jug, then been poured into a cold mug and then had cold milk added, it's only tepid. Plus cafetieres are a bugger to wash up. Not sure what advantages the Chemex offers.

[jep]

S6PNJ said:

juice said:

I've got one of these...

http://www.gocoffee.co.uk/coffee-machines/delonghi...

Definitely recommended.

That's the machine that made me look elsewhere othr than the Gaggia range. If I can get a DeLonghi for £300, then what makes the Gaggia Titanium £200 better? Unless I have a good reason, I won't spend the extra £200 on the machine, I'll spend it on the beans!

Got given the Titanium for my 30th birthday, but MOH purchased it over the web from Italy. Saved the £200+ notes, and have made just shy of 500 coffee's since. It's not been constantly used, but at least twice a week. No issues, although if I have to do more than 2 latte's, I have to give it a bit of time to re-heat the hot water tank for more steam.

[E31Shrew]

Re the Synchrony in our shop. Have made 10 cups a day , 5 days a week for 10 years so pretty good after all. Be aware of water hardness issues though if youre not one of those that uses bottled water!

[S6PNJ]

aaarrrggghhh!!! So I'm still none the wiser other than to hear that in general most people are happy with the machine they bought so I guess it's going to come down to how much I can convince the wife and how much we like the look of each machine.

Why couldn't WHICH magazine or similar do a review of B2C machines!

[Bonefish Blues]

S6PNJ said:

aaarrrggghhh!!! So I'm still none the wiser other than to hear that in general most people are happy with the machine they bought so I guess it's going to come down to how much I can convince the wife and how much we like the look of each machine.

Why couldn't WHICH magazine or similar do a review of B2C machines!

Ahem www.beantocupcoffeemachine.org.uk may assist? Not strictly impartial like Which, but all the same.

[S6PNJ]

Bonefish Blues said:

Ahem www.beantocupcoffeemachine.org.uk may assist? Not strictly impartial like Which, but all the same.

Great! Not seen that site before so I'm having a read now. Cheers!